Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Emm Gryner: The Summer of High Hopes

This week I pre-ordered the new Emm Gryner album "The Summer of High Hopes". I was unaware it was even coming out until I visited her website on a whim and learned the news and was prompted to sign up for the autographed pre-order immediately.

I discovered Emm Gryner via a Lilith Fair compilation back in 1998. After hearing that song I got her one major label release "Public" and fell in love with it. It was heavily played in my stereo for at least a year after getting it and was one of the "must have" CDs on trips and such. I couldn't stop listening to it, it was so damn catchy! Since then my favorite has become her first covers record called "Girl Versions" in which she covered songs by male artists and did them in the melancholy piano ballad way that I love so much. I should also note that she did this before Tori Amos did her Strange Little Girls album with a similar concept. Emm's covers are really extraordinary, recorded live with just her, a piano and the occasional help of the cello.

These days Emm is also participating in a side project called Hot One with film musician Nathan Larson (a.k.a. Mr. Nina Persson), who was the lead guitarist for Shudder to Think. It is very different than the normal Emm fare, leaning more on an edgy rock feel, somewhat political in nature, It's not the Emm I love as far as I can tell from the few tracks that play on their site. Knowing she was participating in Hot One was why I was not expecting a new album so soon, but I can't say I am not excited about it. I don't have any tracks available from the new release but you can listen to a few on her website as well as listen to new ones and download a few old songs on her MySpace page.